BBC announces 20m iPlayer app downloads

rThe BBC says its iPlayer app for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets has been downloaded over 20 million times, driving the take-up of mobile TV watching.

Viewing on mobiles and tablets is now more popular than TV viewing on PCs according to the BBC which says mobile device users made 70 million TV requests in September, up from just 5 million in September 2010.

TV requests from mobile devices now make up 41 per cent of all iPlayer requests, compared with just 6 per cent three years ago.

Usage spikes around 10pm each night suggest growing numbers of viewers are using their tablets to watch TV in bed and the BBC says download rates reveal growing numbers are using iPlayer “to make their daily commute more entertaining.”

Last year the broadcaster introduced mobile downloads, allowing users to download shows before leaving home.

it says the most popular downloaded individual was Top Gear episode one, series 20 with 92,000 downloads.

Ten other episodes of Top Gear made the top 20 downloaded programmes, along with dramas such as Luther, Ripper Street and Doctor Who, and comedies such as Miranda and Bad Education.

The corporation’s ultra-depressing EastEnders was the most downloaded series overall, with 1.9 million downloads to date, as viewers caught up with the wooden acting and poor scripts of Albert Square on their handheld devices.

Dan Taylor, Head of BBC iPlayer for BBC Future Media says: “With over 20 million downloads of the app and record-breaking BBC iPlayer requests on handheld devices, we are thrilled that viewers are increasingly taking their favourite BBC shows with them to watch whenever and wherever they are.

“And with tablets the top of many people’s Christmas list for 2013, we expect this to continue to grow even further.”